My Brother's Leeching Cost Me My Marriage

A week later, while I was handling my job resignation handover, I received a call from my father, Roland Sullivan.

"Come home, Vivian," he said in a tone that left no room for refusal.

"I'm busy. If you've got something to say, say it over the phone."

"Your mother has been hospitalized for high blood pressure."

He paused, then added, "Come back and see her."

My chest tightened sharply, but I quickly regained my composure. "Is it serious?"

"She needs to recuperate. As her daughter, shouldn't you come back and take care of her?" he replied reproachfully.

"I can't get away—I'm busy with work."

"Is work more important than your own mother?"

"Yes," I replied calmly. "Because Mom has Harry to take care of her, while I only have my work."

Heavy breathing came from the other end of the line.

"Vivian, are you abandoning your parents over just a bit of money?"

"Dad, that wasn't 'just a bit of money.' That was the family's entire fortune," I corrected him. "That money was the security for my marriage, yet you destroyed it with your own hands."

"It's our money! We can give it to whoever we want!" he roared.

"Exactly," I said with a nod. "So, my time and energy are mine to give to whomever I want as well. And right now, I want to give them to my career."

"Why you—" Dad was so angry that he was left speechless.

"Besides, why can't you take care of Mom? And what about your precious Harry? He just received six million dollars from you, so shouldn't he be the one taking care of her?"

"You ingrate!"

"Dad, let me do the math for you," I said coldly. "I'll lose nearly five thousand dollars for just one day of leave. Add in the round-trip plane tickets and the work disruption, and each trip back home will cost me at least 30 thousand dollars in losses."

Dad remained silent, his breathing heavy.

"After insurance reimbursement, the out-of-pocket portion of Mom's hospitalization bill is at most a few thousand dollars. You still have your retirement savings, right? Don't tell me you can't even come up with that amount."

Suddenly, he was on guard. "How do you know we still have retirement savings?"

"So, you really did keep something in reserve." I laughed, my voice icy cold. "Last week, when Aunt Eunice said you'd given everything you had to Harry, I almost believed her."

They weren't fools, so of course they had left themselves a safety net. I was just never included in their plan.

"You gave Harry six million dollars and kept a secret stash for yourself. Yet, I—your own flesh and blood—couldn't even borrow five million dollars from you," I exclaimed emphatically. "Dad, am I really worth that little to you and Mom?"

A long silence followed.

"Vivian…" Dad seemed to want to explain.

"Don't bother," I interrupted him. "If Mom needs money for medical treatment, you have your savings. If she needs someone to take care of her, both you and Harry have plenty of time. So, it doesn't matter whether I go back or not."

"You're really not coming back?" he asked in disbelief.

"No," I said. "Take care."

I hung up the phone and blocked this number as well.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Gomez Tower, I gazed out at the bustling, vibrant Summercaster's night view.

As it turned out, a daughter was nothing but an outsider in my parents' eyes. They'd rather leave their fortune to their useless nephew than give me a single penny.

Fine by me. This way, I could finally cut all emotional ties with them and truly live for myself.